Articles

Remarks on current educational systems in the Arab world

In this article, we consider the current developments in the educational systems of the Arab world using quantitative data for the period from 1980 to 2014. On the basis of our analysis we can distinguish four major periods of educational expansion in the Arab world between 1980 and 2014: the 1980s – the most substantial expansion; the late 1980s – the 1990s – a relative recession; the 2000s – a new acceleration of growth; from 2011 – a sharp slowdown of educational expansion. Apparently, the educational situation in the region is extremely asymmetrical. In several countries, adequate quantitative coverage of population by education has not been reached so far. First of all, these are Yemen, Mauritania, Sudan and Morocco. On the contrary, in Jordan, Qatar and Libya, the educational quantitative coverage of the youth by 2005 had already reached the saturation level that caused the administrative measures to decelerate the educational expansion. Hence, the major educational goal for these countries is not the quantitative educational growth, but the improvement of the quality of their education.